"Where is all the good writing about games?"
The first Visual Essay Jam was held on itch.io over the weekend of February 10th-12th. In this short time, and only two weeks after I had come up with the idea in the first place, 25 visual essays were submitted, covering a…
Is ignorance bliss? What kind of things can we learn when we admit to truly knowing nothing at all? Games critics this week have been considering the problems of celebrating ignorance as well as the benefits of eschewing expertise. Getting lost First,…
Direct Download Our first interview of 2017 is with Great Levels in Gaming YouTube producer Max Barnyard. Like our previous interviewee, Max Barnyard focuses his criticism on specific elements of video games; in this case, the construction and purpose of exemplary level design….
A lot of games critics worry, understandably, that their work can’t address the problems that people face in the real world. Others have already started the work of politically-engaged games criticism long ago. This week there are lots of examples of the…
Do you have an idea for a piece of game criticism you’re having trouble putting into words? Have you read a great piece of criticism recently that you want to respond to? Or is there just something that bugs you about games…
Do you feel like garbage right now? Well then I have a treat for you. Games critics this week have gone searching through the detritus of the city for hidden treasure, and created archives of material for others to enjoy. Along the way,…
I love it when critics find ways to get a point across without words. Images can be just as valuable a critical tool as writing; they offer a different set of techniques for demonstrating what a game is doing or what it…
We all participate in constructing social structures, though in the real world most people don’t have a whole lot of institutional power. As many look at 2017 as a year that will demand strong resistance, some writers consider how games teach us to…
Another year passes and the world is a little different. It’s pretty normal at the start of a new year to look at how things might change over the course of the next 12 months. At the end of 2016 we covered…
Pardon me, sorry I didn’t mean to wake you. Are you feeling any better? Gee, you look much better. For what it’s worth, I appreciate that you’ve pushed on through the holidays and I hope you’re on the upswing. That’s right, for…